South Korea told US officials today it has no plans to launch "large-scale" economic co-operation with North Korea before the dispute over the communist state's nuclear weapons programmes is resolved, the country's foreign minister said.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun urged the North to return to six-nation talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons programmes. North Korea has refused to return to the negotiations until Washington abandons its alleged "hostile" policy.
"If North Korea has anything to allege, it should make the allegations at the negotiating table," Roh told a meeting of his top security ministers, his office said. Roh received reports from his unification minister and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who returned today from Washington, and told them to "coolly and calmly" analyse North Korea's statement last week and "cautiously" handle the issue.
Minister Ban said today that South Korea would continue to provide aid to poverty-stricken North Korea out of "humanitarian concern" despite the North's claim of having produced nuclear weapons. In meetings with US Secretary of State Ms Condoleezza Rice and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday in Washington, Ban also explained the importance of the construction of a joint economic zone in Kaesong in North Korea, which he said was only in the pilot stage.
"We don't have any plans to launch large-scale inter-Korean economic co-operation" as the North Korean nuclear issue is yet to be resolved, Ban said he told US officials. Minister Ban said South Korea hasn't made a decision yet regarding a recent request by North Korea for 500,000 tons of fertiliser, and would evaluate "various situations" before determining its position.
In Washington, Ban said US and South Korean officials agreed that China should play a more active role in urging North Korea to rejoin the six-nation talks, which include the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Agencies